Lymphocystic disease affects over 150 species of marine and freshwater fish worldwide. In this study, the lymphocystis pathogen was found in 2 (Amphiprion ocellaris and Amphiprion clarkii) of the 9 species of clownfish. Detection of lymphocystis disease virus (LCDV) was based on histopathological study, electron microscope observation of virus particles and gene sequence analysis from the MCP region. Infected A. ocellaris hosts showed sparse, multifocal, white, stiff, papilloma-like nodules on the body, skin, gills and fins; while, on A. clarkia, nodules were found on the operculum skin. Histopathologic study showed lymphocystic cells with an irregular nucleus, enlarged cytoplasm and intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies surrounded by the cell membrane. The viral particle presents virions 180–230 nm in diameter, hexagonal in shape with an inner dense nucleoid under transmission electron micrographs (TEM). From the ML polygenetic tree, the clownfish LCVD genotype was closely related to the LCDV strain from paradise fish, Macropodus opercularis (KJ408271) (pairwise distance: 92.5%) from China, then followed by the strain from Spain (GU320726 and GU320736) (pairwise distance: 90.8–90.5%), Korea (AB299163, AB212999, AB213004, and AB299164) (pairwise distance: 91.5–80.5%) and lastly Canada (GU939626) (pairwise distance: 83%). This is the first report of lymphocystis disease in A. clarkii in Taiwan.
Anisakid (Anisakis spp.) nematode is a fish-borne parasite that can cause zoonotic disease, Anisakiasis and IgE hypersensitivity in humans. Thus, the ecology and epidemiology of Anisakis nematode are important to control this zoonotic infection. Although Anisakis larvae have been reported in Malaysia, it has not been studied through morphological characteristics and molecular analyses. The objective of this study was to identify the Anisakis species and its infection status in Decapterus macrosoma from Terengganu waters, Malaysia. All Anisakis larvae found were morphologically similar to each other and identified as Anisakis typica. High infection level (P = 100%, M.I. = 23.31±17.26) of A. typica was found in D. macrosoma. There was a bioaccumulation of A. typica in D. macrosoma, showing significant correlation of body weight (p = 0.05) and total body length (p = 0.02) with the amount of A. typica present in D. macrosoma. Interestingly, the gonad was the specific site of infection of A. typica in D. macrosoma, where the intensity of A. typica was significantly (p < 0.003) higher than other visceral organs. Therefore, the migration of A. typica depended on the fatty tissue of the organ.
Elizabethkingia meningoseptica is a hazardous bacterium for agriculture production and human health. The present study identified E. meningoseptica from the bullfrog, human and reference strain BCRC 10677 by API 20NE, 50S ribosome protein L27 sequencing and pulse field gel electrophoresis to differentiate isolates of E. meningoseptica from aquatic animals and humans. All isolates from bullfrogs and humans were identified as E. meningoseptica by DNA sequencing with 98.8%–100% sequence identity. E. meningoseptica displayed significant genetic diversity when analysed using pulsed‐field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). There were six distinct pulsotypes, including one pulsotype found in bullfrog isolates and five pulsotypes found in human isolates. However, E. meningoseptica from bullfrog exhibited one genotype only by PFGE. Overall, molecular epidemiological analysis of PFGE results indicated that the frog E. meningoseptica outbreaks in Taiwan were produced by genetically identical clones. The bullfrog isolates were not genetically related to other E. meningoseptica from human and reference isolates. This research provided the first comparisons of biochemical characteristics and genetic differences of E. meningoseptica from human and bullfrog isolates.
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